CSGOLounge to seek betting license in countries that allow it

CSGOLounge is one of the largest and most popular CS:GO sites out there. As well as offering a robust trading system along with its sister site dota2lounge, CSGL had a betting functionality for CSGO matches using skins. They also received Valve’s gambling cease & desist letter, like their compatriots, and have decided to seek a legitimate betting license in response, as well as shutting down operations in certain countries.

In a statement on the website, CSGL’s founder Rob Borewik reiterates that skins have no monetary value and that all “community interaction with the virtual items is meant only for entertainment, without any profit interest.”

He goes on to say that they do not offer games of luck, but will be looking to “acquire a license to legally operate in most of the countries and be able to accept the esports bets by our community, as if it would be real money.”

However, not everywhere will give them such a license, so operations in these countries will be suspended and users should withdraw their items as soon as possible: Belgium, France, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey, Martinique, French Polynesia, Reunion, Mayotte, Turkey, Spain, Scotland, Israel, United Kingdom and United States.

The trading part of the website, that allows users to list items with possible trades they’d be interested in, apparently won’t be affected and is due for upgrades soon. They’re planning to put additional protections on the betting side and remind everyone that the site is only intended for users aged 18 or over.

Valve could still block them from access to the API, of course, so we’ll find out if they accept it soon enough.